NorthWestern Energy Group (NWE) Competitors

NorthWestern Energy Group (NYSE:NWE) and Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP (NYSE:SBS) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, community ranking, dividends and earnings.

Is NWE or SBS a better dividend stock?

NorthWestern Energy Group pays an annual dividend of $2.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP pays an annual dividend of $0.21 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. NorthWestern Energy Group pays out 70.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP pays out 8.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. NorthWestern Energy Group has increased its dividend for 20 consecutive years. NorthWestern Energy Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do insiders and institutionals believe in NWE or SBS?

96.1% of NorthWestern Energy Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 10.6% of Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of NorthWestern Energy Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, NWE or SBS?

Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP has higher revenue and earnings than NorthWestern Energy Group. Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NorthWestern Energy Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NorthWestern Energy Group	$1.42B	2.38	$194.13M	$3.71	14.88
Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP	$26.17B	0.44	$705.76M	$2.54	6.65

Does the MarketBeat Community favor NWE or SBS?

Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP received 219 more outperform votes than NorthWestern Energy Group when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 58.25% of users gave Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP an outperform vote while only 25.93% of users gave NorthWestern Energy Group an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
NorthWestern Energy Group	Outperform Votes 7 25.93%	Underperform Votes 20 74.07%
Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP	Outperform Votes 226 58.25%	Underperform Votes 162 41.75%

Do analysts prefer NWE or SBS?

NorthWestern Energy Group presently has a consensus target price of $57.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.28%. Given NorthWestern Energy Group's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe NorthWestern Energy Group is more favorable than Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NorthWestern Energy Group	1 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.14
Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	4.00

Does the media refer more to NWE or SBS?

In the previous week, Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP had 3 more articles in the media than NorthWestern Energy Group. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP and 5 mentions for NorthWestern Energy Group. NorthWestern Energy Group's average media sentiment score of 1.03 beat Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP's score of 0.99 indicating that NorthWestern Energy Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
NorthWestern Energy Group	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is NWE or SBS more profitable?

Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP has a net margin of 25.62% compared to NorthWestern Energy Group's net margin of 15.15%. Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP's return on equity of 28.58% beat NorthWestern Energy Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NorthWestern Energy Group	15.15%	7.95%	2.89%
Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP	25.62%	28.58%	13.80%

Which has more risk and volatility, NWE or SBS?

NorthWestern Energy Group has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP has a beta of 1.16, meaning that its share price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Companhia de Saneamento Básico do Estado de São Paulo - SABESP beats NorthWestern Energy Group on 13 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.